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2014 started off as a great year for women in leadership, with the January announcement that Mary Barra was tapped as the new CEO for General Motors, making her the auto industry's first female chief executive officer.

The New York Times recently asked readers to share advice for young women in the workplace. More than 500 responses followed, with insights ranging from how to be a leader and taking risks to negotiating salary and finding mentors. Some highlights:

Strive to be the person that people count on.

Don’t just sit at the table; talk at the table! Make it a point to contribute at least once in every meeting you attend.

To stand out and excel, especially as a woman in the business world, you need to lead.

Keep track of your accomplishments. Don’t brush them off; write them down and add them to your working résumé.

Stop apologizing. Women say they are sorry far too much for things they had no control over.

Never think of yourself as a woman first, but as a competent and capable individual who can get the job done just as well as your co-workers.

Imagine a business luncheon, with men and women professionals mingling about.

One woman is at the table chatting with a hiring director about their shared love of traveling; another man is in the corner talking with the president of an IT company about his skill set and experience.

Both of these professionals are looking for new jobs, but which method of networking is more efficient?

We all have bad habits we need to break—especially in the workplace. Some of us procrastinate; others show up late to work. You might be reading this and thinking about some of the really annoying traits of your fellow coworkers, but the truth is, you’re probably guilty of some bad habits, too.

Have you ever heard women in the workplace use phrases like “I feel” or “I don’t know much about this, but…” to preface a thought? Or, maybe you’ve used language like this yourself?

The truth is, such subtle preluding clauses are common among female employees, but self-effacing behaviors like this could be holding women back as they strive to claim positions of power in the workplace.

Navigating office relationships can be tricky, particularly for those in leadership positions. From strictly professional to more personal, how leaders interact with their employees, can set the tone for the entire office. Therefore, striking the right balance is critical to achieving a cohesive and trusting workplace.

According to Randstad’s most recent gender engagement study, 84 percent of women agree that their relationship with their direct supervisor has a big impact on how happy they are with their job. While oversharing can diminish one’s authority, not sharing enough can make managers seem disinterested and closed-off.

Female role models are important because they’re inspiring – to so many people and for so many reasons.

When you think about the people who inspire you, you probably think first about what makes them inspiring, not what gender they are, how old they are or what they look like.

Just like their male counterparts, female role models – which by definition, regardless of gender, refer to those who are exemplary with behaviors worthy of being emulated – have shaped history and changed lives.

In 7th grade, I remember asking my favorite teacher, "What should I do now?" He responded, “Follow your heart, it won't let you down."

Those words still resonate with me now, years later, and it’s a piece of advice I constantly apply to my professional life. Even though I’ve taken some leaps of faith and made some mistakes along the way, I cherish them because I’ve always done what I believe in, I’ve always followed my heart.